The Department of Veterans Affairs would get more than $177.6 billion in total funds under President Barack Obama’s $4.1 trillion budget request for fiscal 2017, Military Times reported Tuesday.Leo Shane III writes the figure represents an increase of almost 9 percent from the finalized budget of $163 billion for fiscal 2016.
VA’s FY 2017 budget request includes $75.1 billion in discretionary funds, $65 billion for medical care, $7.2 billion for Care in the Community program, $663 million for healthcare research and $1.6 billion for programs that aim to address homelessness among veterans.
The White House’s budget proposal also includes advance appropriations worth approximately $104 billion for fiscal 2018, Shane reports.
Obama’s budget plan also proposes to simplify the disability benefits appeals process for veterans, which is one of the issues raised by VA Secretary Bob McDonald during a Senate panel hearing in January.
McDonald is scheduled to appear Wednesday before the House Veterans Affairs Committee to discuss VA’s budget request, according to the report.
